Ring binder



0t.24,1967- l HHM/@LF Em l 3,348,550

RING BINDER Filed Jan. 6, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l .@J? 15; Qwefz l f ff/@5% 7J N42/ @f2/mf lOt.24,1967 H, HWOLF ET AL l 3,348,550-

RING BINDER Filed Jan, 6, .1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 2 4, 1967 H, H. WOLF ET AL 3,348,550

RING BINDER Filed Jan. 6; 1966 5 sheets-sheet s v United States Patent() 3,348,550 RING BINDER Harold H. Wolf, Highland Park, and Robert E. Dahl, Mount Prospect, Ill., assignors to Feldco-Major, Inc., Chicago, lll., a corporation of Illinois Filed Jan. 6, 1966, Ser. No. 519,084 2 Claims. (Cl. 129-24) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A ring binder is provided having a front cover and a rear cover adapted to lie generally horizontally on a support surface when the binder is opened, and a pair of spine-forming members whose outer longitudinal margins are hinged to the inner longitudinal margins of said. front and rear covers and whose inner longitudinal margins are interconnected by means supporting the spine-forming members for relative lateral horizontal movement with respect-to the other between relatively contiguous and spaced apart positions. The spine-forming members carry curved longitudinally spaced sheet-receiving ring halves rigidly anchored thereto, each ring half on each spineforming member being positioned opposite a corresponding ring half on the other spine-forming member. The corresponding ring halves have confronting end portions which are forced into tight engagement when the lspineforming members are moved into said relative contiguous positions. A unique toggle means is provided for manually moving said spine-forming members between the contiguous and spaced apart positions.

This invention relates primarily to ring binders of the notebook type having front and rear covers hinged to a spine member carrying two or more sets of normally closed ring halves which are separable to receive sheets of notebook paper having openings whichV pass over the open ring halves. When the sets of ring halves are closed, the sheets of notebook paper can be moved'along rings from a position where they overlie one cover to a position where they overlie the other cover. The covers generally lie horizontally on a support surface when the notebook is in use so that the sheets can be conveniently written upon. I

The notebook ring binders which vhave been priced to sell for the mass market of elementary, highl school and college students have generally been of Vthe type where the ring halves are supported for pivotal movementbetwen closed and opened positions by an inexpensive snapaction mechanism. The use of a pivot support Vfor ,the ring halves and the particular snap-action mechanism used to'support these ring halves result in a construction where the ring halves can be bent easily and otherwise come out of alignment Where the resultant exposed rough edges tear the sheets of notebook paper. Also, the closing force on the ring halves frequently deteriorates to a point where they open accidentally so the sheets of paper spill out of the notebook.

Although the above mentioned diiculties have been alleviated in various high priced business or commercial ring binder constructions using very complex ring supporting and operating mechanisms, it has not been the case with the relatively inexpensive ring binders of the notebook type which are attractive to the mass student market.

Itis, accordingly, one of the objects of the invention to provide an improved relatively low priced ring binder of the notebook type where the ring halves cannot be readily bent or otherwise misaligned as in the case of conventional inexpensive ring binders of the notebook type.

Patented Oct. 24, 1967 ice Another object of the invention is to provide a ring binder as described which is rugged so the ring halves will not open accidentally even after long use.

A still further related object of the invention is to provide a ring binder as described where the ring halves can be more easily opened and closed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a ring binder as described where the parts need not be made to close tolerances.

The invention is an improvement upon a type of ring binder where the sets of ring halves are rigidly anchored to ring carrying members which are mounted for reciprocating movement toward and away from each other, and Where the ends of the ring halves are forced into abutting relationship when the ring carrying members are brought into close proximity by movement of a manually operable member. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the ring carrying members are reciprocated 'between -ring opening and closing positions by simple and easy linger motions, preferably lifting and depressing motions, imparted to an operating lever which, in turn, operates a very effective but inexpensive toggle mechanism which locks the ring halves very tightly together.

v In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the rigidity of the ring carrying structure of the binder Ais greatly enhanced by providing on the ring carrying members portions which interlock when the ring halves are brought together to prevent relative vertical or inner horizontal longitudinal movement of the ring carrying members. v

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an aspect which materially reduces the cost and complexity of the ring binder as a whole, the spine is made and assembled as two separate longitudinal parts or sections which slidably engage one another to permit the spine sections (and the covers'hinged thereto) to reciprocate between contiguous and spaced apart positions. The-ring halves are' carried on the separable spine sections so that the spine sections act as ring carriersy in addition to the spine of the binder to which Vthe covers are hinged.

Other aspects ofthe invention deal with details of the ring carrying or spine-forming members and the associated toggle mechanism which moves the members between the spaced apart and contiguous positions. v

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent upon making reference to the specification to follow, the claims and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a notebook ring binder constructed in accordance with the present invention as the ring operating mechanism thereof is being operated to a ring opening position;

FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to, FIG. 1 showing the ring operating mechanism being operated into a ring closing position;

. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the spine portion of the binder of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the rings carried thereby in -a fully open position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the binder of FIGS. 1-3 when the binder is in a closed position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View, through the spine portion of the binder in an open position, taken substantially along the line 5.-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6y is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 when the rings are in their closed position;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view through the spine portion of the binder taken substantially along the line 7--7 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical transverse sectional view through the spine portion of the notebook, taken substantially along the line 8-8 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged exploded view of an assembly comprising a connecting link, operating rod and fastening member forming part of the binder shown in FIGS. 1-8;

FIG. 10 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary vertical transverse sectional view'through portionsof the spaced apart sections of the spine which interlock, as seen along line 10-10 in FIG. 3;

FIG. ll is a sectional view through the operating rod, taken along section line 11-11 in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 12 is a view corresponding to FIG. 11 when the spine =sections are brought together to close the ring halves.

General description Referring now most particularly to FIGS. 1 throu-gh 6, the notebook ring ibinder there illustrated and generally indicated by reference numerals 1 has front and rear covers 3 and 5 hinged at their inner longitudinal margins to a spine assembly 7. In the most significant for-rn of the invention, the spine assembly 7 is made in two longitudinal spine-forming sections or members 7-1 and 7-2. The spine sections respectively carry longitudinally spaced frusto-circ-ular ring halves 9 and 9 rigidly anchored thereto. -Each ring half 9 on the spine section 7-1 is in lateral alignment with a complementary ring half 9 on the spine section 7-2 so that their end portions will move into tight abutment when the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are brought together.

The spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are mounted for horizontal lateral sliding movement with respect to each other (in a preferred manner to be described) between spaced apart positions shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 where the various sets of ring halves `9 9 are in relative substantial spaced relationship perm-itting sheets of notebook paper to be slid over the ring halves, and relative contiguous position shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 Iwhere the sets of rin-g halves 9 9 are in tight end-to-end abutment and in perfect alignment, so that the adjacent surfaces of the ring halves form substantially continuous outer surfaces so that there are no significant gaps or protruding sharp edges in or on which the sheets of notebook paper can `catch and tear as the sheets of papers are moved along the rings. A horizontal center line passing through the rings formed by the ring halves is preferably centered between the front and rear covers 3 and 5.

The illustrated rin-g halves 9 have vertically pointed laterally inwardly facing ends 9a adapted to pass into the confronting correspondingly shaped grooves 9b in the ends of the ring halves 9. The interlocking of the ends of the ring halves prevents horizontal longitudinal separation of the ring halves and aids in maintaining horizontal longitudinal alignment of the ring halves. The rigidity of the spine assembly in the closed position of the ring halves is an important factor in the ruggedness of the notebook and in the maintenance of the ring half alignment and this is materially enhanced by means of interlocking portions of the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 which prevent any significant relative movement between the spine sections in all directions but horizontal lateral movement thereof away from each other. These interlocking portions preferably (but not necessarily) include tongues 11-11 and 12-12 extending from the inner longitudinal margins of the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2. The construction and operation of these tongues will be described later on in the specification.

The spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are interconnected further by interengaging means to be described which support and guide the spine sections for relative sliding movement toward and away from one another. This movement of the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 is controlled by a control lever 15 having a linger engaging portion 17 on the end thereof and associated linkage mechanism to be described and best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Suffice it as said at this point, the spine sections 7-1 and 7 2, which are normally locked in their contiguous positions CII are released therefrom and moved into their fully separated positions preferably by a simple short lifting movement imparted to the finger engaging portion 17 of the control lever 15. The spine sections are moved into their contiguous ring closing positions by the simple depression of the finger engaging portion 17 and the control lever 15. The linkage -mechanism in conjunction with the resiliency of the ring halves operate to produce a toggle locking action which releasably locks the spine sections tightly in their ring closing positions.

Although a very important aspect of the present invention is the utilization of the two piece spine sections as described, various other aspects of the invention dealing with the manner in which the ring halves are reciprocated between their spaced apart and contiguous positions are applicable also to the more complex and expensive forms of binder constructions Where the spine comprises a single body and where the ring halves are carrie'd by separate plates which reciprocate on and relative to the spine.

Details of preferred spine construction The major portion of the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are most advantageously made of a molded synthetic plastic material Iforming body members 20-20 (FIGS. 5, 6 and 8). The synthetic plastic material is preferably a high impact polystyrene having rubber or rubber-like materials incorporated therein to give the same a significant degree of resiliency. This enables the parts of the ring operating mechanism to be described to be made to rough tolerances since the material will yield readily under stresses caused by minor variations in the dimensions of the parts of the linkage -mechanism to be described. For example, one material which could be used for lmaking the body members 20 and 20 is the high impact, graph-polymer with rubber manufactured by the Union Carbide Corporation, Dow Chemical Corporation and Sinclair Copper Corporation. To conserve plastic material without significantly affecting the strength thereof, the molded plastic body members 20 and 20 are preferably provided with a multiplicity of cavities (not shown) separated by rigidifying ribs whose outer edges are at various elevations forming recesses and support shoulders for various metal parts to be described. Thus, the molded body member 20 has a recess on the outer side of a longitudinal rib 21 which recess receives a metal inner hinge strip 22a of a piano hinge assembly 22. The hinge strip 22a is secured to the body member 20 by rivets 24 or other suitable fastening means. The hinge assembly also includes an outer hinge strip 2217 hinged to the inner strip 22a and connected by rivets 2-6 to the front ycover 3. A lsimilar inner hinge strip 22a of a hinge assembly 22 is secured Within a recess on the outer side of a longitudinal rib 21 of the body member 20 by suitable rivets 24 or other fastening means. An outer -hinge strip 22b hinged to the inner hinge strip 22a' is secured to the rear cover 5 by rivets 26' or other suitable fastening means.

Ring carrier plates 32 and 32 are respectively anchored in place by rivets 34 and 34' or other suitable fastening means to the body members 20 and 20' on the inner sides of the ribs 21 and 21'. The ring halves 9 and 9 are ixedly anchored as by riveting (FIG. 8) to the ring carrier plates 32 and 32. The aforementioned tongues 11-12 are preferably swaged from the ring carrier plate 32 (FIGS. 11 and 12) and the aforementioned tongues 11' and 12 are preferably swaged from the ring carrier plate I32'. The tongues 11-11' incline upwardly from the associated ring carrier plates and the tongues 12-12' incline downwardly from the associated ring carrier plates. Each of the upwardly inclinin-g tongues 11 and 11 on the carrier plates 32 and 32 is positioned opposite a downwardly extending tongue 12 or 12' on the other carrier plate and is adapted to engage with the same as shown in FIG. 12 when the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are brought into contiguous relation. There is formed in each molded body member below each of the upwardly extending tongues 11 and 11 a narrow shallow recess, like 37' in FIGS. 7, 11 and l2, into which extends a downwardly extending tongue 12 or 12 when the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are in their contiguous positions. The upper surfaces of the downwardly extending tongues 12-12' incline at the same angle as the bottom surfaces of the -upwardly extending tongues 11 and 11', and when the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are brought close together the inclined upper surfaces of the tongues 1242 make face-to-face contact withthe lower surface of the tonglues 11-11'. Also, the bottom edges of the tongues 12-12 contact the bottom walls of the aforesaid recesses below the same, so that the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 cannot move up or down or laterally inwardly with respect to each other. The widths of the aforementioned recesses are approximately equal to the widths of the tongues 12-12 fitting into the same so that the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 cannot move longitudinally with respect to each other.

The means for supporting the spine sections for relative 'horizontal lateral sliding movement include4 horizontally inwardly and outwardly extending projections or wings 40-40 adjacent the outer ends of the body member 20. The wings 40-40slide Within tracks or slideways 42-42 (FIGS. 5-7) formed in inwardly extending spaced projections 45-45 of the body member 20. The slideways 42-42 communicate with slideways extensions 42'-42 defined in part between shoulders 43-43 and the ring carrier plate 32 which extension receives the wings 40-40 when the spine sections are brought closer together.

Ring operating mechanism The means for reciprocating the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 and the ring halves carried thereby between their spaced apart and contiguous positions includes, as indicated above, at the bottom end of the spine assembly a control lever 15 with a -nger engaging portion 17 at the right end portion of the lever as'viewed in FIGS. l and 2. The left end portion of the control lever 15 is pivotally mounted on a lug 50 (FIGS. 1 through 4) extending upwardly from the molded body member 20. A lug 50a similar to the lug 50 extends upwardly from the upper end of the body member 20 of the spine section 7-1 and pivotally supports an upwardly arched arcuate lever 15al about an axis P1 (FIGS. 5-6) coaxial with the corresponding pivot axis of control lever 15. One of the ends of a pair of connecting links 53 and 53a are respectively pivotally connected along coaxial axes P2 to the right hand ends of the levers 15 and 15a and the opposite ends of the connecting links 53 and 53a are respectively keyed to the opposite ends of a control or torque rod 5S mounted pivotally on a'common pivot axis P3 in openings in relatively largevertical flanges 57 and 57a extending from the ends of the body member 20' forming part ofthe spine section 7-2.

The connecting links S3 andV 53a are respectively keyed to the control rod 55 by means includ-ing slots 59 and 59a extending inwardly from the ends of the control rod (FIGS. 5, 9 and 10) which slots receive respectively inwardly extending tongues 58 and 58a formed in the margins of openings `60 and 60a in the connecting links 53 and 53a. The openings 60 and 60a receive the end portions of the control rod 55, and the control rod is maintained in a iixed axial position with respect to the spine assembly by generally C-shaped yfastener elements 63-63a respectively snapping into the inner end portions of the slots 59 and 59a.

The toggle action is obtained by the linkage mechanism just described if the distance between the pivot axes P2 and P3 is greater than half the distance between the pivot axes P1 and P2. When the linger engaging portion 17 of the control lever 15 is raised from the` position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 5, the resultant counterclockwise movement imparted to the control lever 15 will be communicated through the control rod 55 to the lever 15a and the connecting links 53 and 53a will be moved to a position where they extend outwardly from the right ends ofthe levers 15-15a as illustrated in FIG. 5. The degree of counterclockwise movement of the levers 15V and 15a is limited by shoulders like 70a shown in FIG. 5 formed vin the flanges 57 and 57a against which shoulders one of the longitudinal margins of the connecting links l53 and 53a will abut. In the position of the linkage mechanism shown in FIG. 5, the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 are spaced apart to their Vfullest extent so that the confronting Vends of the ring halves 9-9' are widely spaced to permit the ready insertion of the sheets of. paper over the ring halves.

When the finger engaging portion 17 of the control lever 15 is depressed from the position shown in FIG. 5 to that shown in FIG, 6, the resultant clockwise rotation of the lever 15 is imparted to the connecting link 53 and to the connecting link 53a bythe control rod 55. The connecting links 53 and 53a attached to the control rod 55 are thus pulled toward the spine section 7-1 where the control rod is in nestled relation beneath and in contact with the bottom margins 72-72a of the Varcuately shaped levers 15-15a. The movement of the control rod 55 drawns the spine sections and t-he ring halves carried thereby together. In the movement of the control rod 55 against the bottom of the arcuate levers 15-15a the line L2 between pivot axes PZ and P3 is first moved into'- .alignmentwith line L1 between the pivot axes P1 and P2. In this position of the control rod 55, the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 Ireach their closest position where the confronting end portions of the ring halves 9 and 9 are pushed with the greatest force. This force is relieved somewhat as the control rod is pushed `over center as the finger engaging. portion 17 reaches the lowest position when t-he end of the control rod 55 rises above the pivot axis line L1 as indicated in FIG. 5 where it contacts the levers 15-15a. Thus, the over-center action just described will lock the spine sections 7-1 and 7-2 in their relatively` contiguous positions. l

It should be apparent that the present invention has provided an exceedingly reliable, inexpensive, notebook binder construction where the ring halves are positively locked together with such a force that the krings cannot be readily bent to avoid misalignment between the ring halves and consequent rough edges which 'frequently tear the notebookpaper in more conventional constructions,

and wherein the spine assembly of the notebook has a'. strong and rigid constructionwith an extremely long life'.v

It should be understood that many modifications may be made in the preferred formof the invention described above without deviating from the broader aspect of the invention.

We.claim: Y l V 1.v A notebook ring'binder comprising front and rear covers and a spine assembly hinged to the inner longitu dinal margins of the covers torenable the covers to pivot intoa generally horizontal position, said spine assembly including a pair of ring carrying members mounted for lateral horizontal movement with respect to one another between relative contiguous and spaced apart positions, and longitudinally spaced notebook paper receiving ring halves rigidly anchored to each of said ring carrying members, each ring half on each ring carrying member being positioned opposite a corresponding 'ring half on the other ring carrying member, said corresponding ring halves having facing end portions which are forced horizontally into tight engagement when the ring carrying members a-re moved into said relative contiguous positions, manually operable means for moving said ring carrying members between said relatively contiguous and spaced apart positions, said manually operable means including an upwardly arched control lever pivotally supported on one end of one of said ring carrying membe-rs, a finger engaging portion on said control lever spaced from said one end thereof for pivoting the control lever about said axis between said raised and lowered positions, a connecting link having one end pivotally connected to the other end of said control lever and another end pivotally sup-ported from the other ring carrying member, the distance between the pivot axes at the ends of said connecting link being somewhat greater than one-half the distance between the pivot axes at the opposite ends of the control lever, wherein in said raised position of said control lever the connecting link extends outwardly away from the control lever to space the ring carrying member carrying the connecting link substantially away from the ring carrying member carrying the control lever, and in the lowered position of the control lever the ends of the connecting link connected to said other ring carrying member is pivoted and pulled into nestled relation beneath the upwardly arched control lever which pulls the last mentioned `ring carrying member adjacent the ring carrying member carrying the control lever, in said nestled position of said connecting link the pivot axis at the end thereof connected to the former ring carrying member being above a line connecting said pivot axes at the ends of said control lever, whereby a toggle locking action is obtained in conjunction with the resiliency of the ring halves, which toggle action locks the -ring carrying members in their contiguous positions where the ring halves are tightly closed, the end of the connecting link opposite the end connected to said control lever being fixed to a control rod extending longitudinally from one end of the ring carrying member carrying said connecting link to the other end thereof, means pivotally supporting said other end of the control rod to the latter ring carrying member, and a connecting link and a control lever pivoted to one another and interconnecting said other end of the control rod to the other ring carrying member carrying the first mentioned control lever, wherein there is provided cooperating pairs of connecting links and control levers pivoted respectively about coaxial pivot axes for transmitting equal reciprocating forces to said ring carrying members to move the same between their spaced apart and contiguous positions by movementof the finger engaging portion of said first mentioned control lever at one end of the ring carrying members.

2. A ring binder having a front cover and a -rear cover adapted to lie generally horizontally on a support surface when the binder is opened, and a pair of spine-forming.

members whose outer longitudinal margins are hinged to the inner longitudinal margins of said front andrrear covers and whose inner longitudinal margins are interconnected by means supporting the spine-forming members for relative lateral horizontal movement with respect to the other between relatively contiguous and spaced apart positions, said spine-forming members carrying curved longitudinally spaced sheet-receiving ring halves rigidly anchored thereto, each ring half on each spineforming member being positioned opposite a corresponding ring half on the other spine-forming member, the corresponding ring halves having confronting end portions which are forced into tight engagement when the spineforming members are moved into said relative contiguous positions, and means for manually moving said spineforming members between said contiguous and spaced apart positions, the last mentioned means comprising an upwardly arched control lever Ipivotally supported at one end on one of said spine-forming members, a finger engaging portion on said control lever spaced from said one end thereof for pivoting the control lever about said axis between said raised and lowered positions, a connecting link having one free end pivotally connected to the other free end of said control lever and another end pivotally supported from the other spine-forming member, the distance between the pivot axes at the ends of said connecting link being somewhat greater than one-half the distance between the pivot axes at the opposite ends of the control lever, wherein in said raised position of said control lever the connecting link extends outwardly away from the control lever to space the spine-forming member carrying the connecting link substantially away from the spine-forming member carrying the control lever, and in the lowered position of the control lever the ends of the connecting link connected to said other spine-forming member is pivoted and pulled into nestled relation beneath the upwardly arched control lever which pulls the last mentioned spine-forming member adjacent the spine-forming member carrying the control lever and in said nestled position of said connecting link the pivot axis at the end thereof connected to the former spine-forming member being above a line connecting said pivot axes at the ends of said control lever, whereby a toggle locking action is obtained in conjunction with the resiliency of the ring halves, which toggle action locks the spine-forming members in their contiguous positions where the ring halves are tightly closed, the end of the connecting link opposite the end connected to said control lever being fixed to a control rod extending longitudinally from one end of the spineforming member carrying said connecting link to the other end thereof, means pivotally supporting said other end of the control rod to the latter spine-forming member, a connecting link and a control lever pivoted to one another and interconnecting said other end of control rod, the other spine-forming member carrying the first mentioned control lever, wherein there is provided cooperating pairs of connecting links `and control levers pivoted respectively about coaxial pivot axes for transmitting equal reciproeating forces to said spine-forming members to move the same between their spaced apart and contiguous positions by movement of the finger engaging portion of said first mentioned control lever at one end of the spine-forming members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 369,065 8/1887 Lawrence 129-9 794,682 7/ 1905 Richards 129-9 1,300,206 4/ 1919 Whitlock 129-24 2,104,046 1/1938 Krag 129-9 2,212,380' 8/1940 Steele 129`9 2,440,945 5/ 1948 Hanna 129-9 2,598,044 5/1952 Emmer 129--9 3,153,417 10/1964 Newman 129-24 JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

1. A NOTEBOOK RING BINDER COMPRISING FRONT AND REAR COVERS AND A SPINE ASSEMBLY HINGED TO THE INNER LONGITUDINAL MARGINS OF THE COVERS TO ENABLE THE COVERS TO PIVOT INTO A GENERALLY HORIONTAL POSITION, SAID SPINE ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A PAIR OF RING CARRYING MEMBERS MOUNTED FOR LATERAL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER BETWEEN RELATIVE CONTIGUOUS AND SPACED APART POSITIONS, AND LONGITUDINALLY SPACED NOTEBOOK PAPER RECEIVING RING HALVES RIGIDLY ANCHORED TO EACH OF SAID RING CARRYING MEMBERS, EACH RING HALF ON EACH RING CARRYING MEMBER BEING POSITIONED OPPOSITE A CORRESPONDING RING HALF ON THE OTHER RING CARRYING MEMBER, SAID CORRESPONDING RING HALVES HAVING FACING END PORTIONS WHICH ARE FORCED HORIZONTALLY INTO TIGHT ENGAGEMENT WHEN THE RING CARRYING MEMBERS ARE MOVED INTO SAID RELATIVE CONTIGUOUS POSITIONS, MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS FOR MOVING SAID RING CARRYING MEMBERS BETWEEN SAID RELATIVELY CONTIGUOUS AND SPACED APART POSITIONS, SAID MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS INCLUDING AN UPWARDLY ARCHED CONTROL LEVER PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED ON ONE END OF ONE OF SAID RING CARRYING MEMBERS, A FINGER ENGAGING PORTION ON SAID CONTROL LEVER SPACED FROM SAID ONE END THEREOF FOR PIVOTING THE CONTROL LEVER ABOUT SAID AXIS BETWEEN SAID RAISED AND LOWERED POSITIONS, A CONNECTING LINK HAVING ONE END PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID CONTROL LEVER AND ANOTHER END PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED FROM THE OTHER RING CARRYING MEMBER, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PIVOT AXES AT THE ENDS OF SAID CONNECTING LINK BEING SOMEWHAT GREATER THAN ONE-HALF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PIVOT AXES AT THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE CONTROL LEVER, WHEREIN IN SAID RAISED POSITION OF SAID CONTROL LEVER THE CONNECTING LINK EXTENDS OUTWARDLY AWAY FROM THE CONTROL LEVER TO SPACE THE RING CARRYING MEMBER CARRYING THE CONNECTING LINK SUBSTANTIALLY AWAY FROM THE RING CARRYING MEMBER CARRYING THE CONTROL LEVER, AND IN THE LOWERED POSITION OF THE CONTROL LEVEL THE ENDS OF THE CONNECTING LINK CONNECTED TO SAID OTHER RING CARRYING MEMBER IS PIVOTED AND PULLED INTO NESTLED RELATION BENEATH THE UPWARDLY ARCHED CONTROL LEVER WHICH PULLS THE LAST MENTIONED RING CARRYING MEMBER ADJACENT THE RING CARRYING MEMBER CARRYING THE CONTROL LEVER, IN SAID NESTLED POSITION OF SAID CONNECTING LINK THE PIVOT AXIS AT THE END THEREOF CONNECTED TO THE FORMER RING CARRYING MEMBER BEING ABOVE A LINE CONNECTING SAID PIVOT AXES AT THE ENDS OF SAID CONTROL LEVER, WHEREBY A TOGGLE LOCKING ACTION IS OBTAINED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE RESILIENCY OF THE RING HALVES, WHICH TOGGLE ACTION LOCKS THE RING CARRYING MEMBERS IN THEIR CONTIGUOUS POSITIONS WHERE THE RING HALVES ARE TIGHTLY CLOSED, THE END OF THE CONNECTING LINK OPPOSITE THE END CONNECTED TO SAID CONTROL LEVER BEING FIXED TO A CONTROL ROD EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY FROM ONE END OF THE RING CARRYING MEMBER CARRYING SAID CONNECTING LINK TO THE OTHER END THEREOF, MEANS PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING SAID OTHER END OF THE CONTROL ROD TO THE LATTER RING CARRYING MEMBER, AND A CONNECTING LINK AND A CONTROL LEVER PIVOTED TO ONE ANOTHER AND INTERCONNECTING SAID OTHER END OF THE CONTROL ROD TO THE OTHER RING CARRYING MEMBER CARRYING THE FIRST MENTIONED CONTROL LEVER, WHEREIN THERE IS PROVIDED COOPERATING PAIRS OF CONNECTING LINKS AND CONTROL LEVERS PIVOTED RESPECTIVELY ABOUT COAXIAL PIVOT AXES FOR TRANSMITTING EQUAL RECIPORCATING FORCES TO SAID RING CARRYING MEMBERS TO MOVE THE SAME BETWEEN THEIR SPACED APART AND CONTIGUOUS POSITIONS BY MOVEMENT OF THE FINGER ENGAGING PORTION OF SAID FIRST MENTIONED CONTROL LEVER AT ONE END OF THE RING CARRYING MEMBERS. 